GAAC is extremely fortunate to have Sky & Telescope Magazine Senior Editor Kelly Beatty as our speaker for the December 8 Holiday party, with a riveting presentation on “The Sputnik Years.” Kelly will show us how it all happened, who was involved, and what some of the many important historic results of that event have been.
October 4, 1957 marked the beginning of the Space Age, with the launch of Sputnik by the Soviet Union. The satellite sped by over the heads of the world, and the space race was on. Everything that came later, from John Glenn to Neil Armstrong, from the Mercury rockets to the moon landings, to the Voyagers and the Rovers, to New Horizons’ visit to Pluto, follows from this one little satellite.
Kelly Beatty has been honored twice by the Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) of the American Astronomical Society. In 2005 he received the Harold Masursky Award for meritorious service, and in 2009 he was honored with the inaugural Jonathan Eberhart Journalism Award. He is also a recipient of the prestigious Astronomical League Award (in 2006) for his contributions to the science of astronomy and the American Geophysical Union’s Cowen Award for Sustained Achievement in Science Journalism (2009).
Kelly holds a Bachelors degree in geology from the California Institute of Technology and a Master’s degree in science journalism from Boston University. During the 1980s he was among the first Western journalists to gain firsthand access to the Soviet space program. Asteroid 2925 Beatty was named on the occasion of his marriage in 1983, and in 1986 he was chosen one of the 100 semifinalists for NASA’s Journalist in Space program.
GAAC meets on the second Friday of every month at the Lanesville Community Center, 8 Vulcan street in Lanesville. All are welcome, and there is no cost. No special knowledge is necessary to have a great time. For more info on the club see the website at http://gaac.us, the Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/GAACpage, or follow us on twitter, @gaacster.
Cape Ann Community 